Per Uno Agathon Röndahl (19 September 1924 – 10 October 2011) was a Swedish police officer and author. Uno Röndahl’s writings centered on Scanian history and especially the war events taking place in the province of

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

and in particular in the border areas between contemporary Danish Skåne/

Blekinge Blekinge () is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second-smallest provin ...

and Swedish

Småland Småland () is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name ''Småland'' literally means "small la ...

during the period 1645-1720.

Career

Uno Röndahl was born in

Näsum Näsum is a locality situated in Bromölla Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 1,117 inhabitants in 2010. The village and its surrounding landscape, including the nature reserve are a part of the hiking trail Skåneleden The Skåneleden ...

in Villand (North-Eastern Scania). His career began in the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy () is the maritime service branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet (), formally sometimes referred to as the Royal Navy () – as well as marine units, the Amph ...

and then he became a policeman in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. Already during childhood, his interest for the history of Scania was awakened. During his time in Stockholm he enjoyed rich opportunities to visit museums, libraries and archives. This interest followed him when he later took over as a police detective in the city of Kristianstad. With research methods similar to that of a detective’s persistent curiosity, he supplemented his historical knowledge by for many years going through old documents and archives not only in Kristianstad and the university city of Lund but also in the National Archives in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

(

Rigsarkivet The Danish National Archives () is the national archive system of Denmark. Its primary purpose is to collect, preserve and archive historically valuable records from central authorities, such as ministries, agencies and national organisations and ...

). The results often gave a very brutal picture of the war events during this period, particularly in the border regions between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and Denmark in North-Eastern Scania. In an almost shocking way, he highlighted the difficult living conditions and suffering of the contemporary civilian population. By means of his books he was able to spread a more nuanced picture of the region's history and the daily life of the people of the era. In 1981 he published the book
''Skåneland utan förskoning''
�� (“Scania without mercy”) This book became a fierce criticism of the established description of the Swedish wars in the former Danish provinces of

Halland Halland () is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden (''landskap''), on the western coast of Götaland, southern Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Småland, Skåne, Scania and the sea of Kattegat. Until 1645 and the Second Treaty of Br ...

and

in the second half of the 17th century. Uno Röndahl claimed that what in Swedish history books was called "a peaceful transition from Denmark to Sweden" was not as peaceful as is often claimed. The book "''Skåneland II – På jakt efter historien''” (“Scania II - In search of history"), was released in 1986. In this book Uno Röndahl discussed the consequences of depriving people of their history. He also describes in the book many of the historical figures, including those from before 1658, who had played an important role in the history of the old Danish provinces of Skåne and Halland, Blekinge. The book "Skåneland ur det fördolda” (“Scania from the obscure") was published in 1996 and covers the often grim and tragic fates of the common civilians, often forgotten in established history books or at best are referred to as "a bunch of peasants", "

snapphane A ''snapphane'' was a member of a 17th-century pro- Danish guerrilla organization, auxiliaries or paramilitary troops that fought against the Swedes in the Second Northern and Scanian Wars, primarily in the eastern former Danish provinces that h ...

" and the like. Year 2006 the book "''Herulerna, det glömda folket''” (“The Herulis - the forgotten people") was released, with Uno Röndahl as a co-writer. Uno Röndahl did not become fully recognized by the academic establishment, despite his extensive research in the primary source material. However, in later years his work has increasingly been used as reference material in different historical contexts.

References

External links

*
"Skåneland ur det fördolda""Herulerna, det glömda folket"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rondahl, Uno 1924 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Swedish historians Swedish police officers Swedish Navy personnel People from Bromölla Municipality